PaaS (Postage as a Service)

July 26, 2008

It’s not April the first is it?

Simon G alerted me to the existence of PostalMethods, a service that…. "automates the sending of postal mail from their business processes".

First comment – crawl out from the business speak guys – business processes is a moniker for a way things are done within an enterprise. It doesn’t describe either an animate or inanimate object – people send post, machines can be automated to send mail – a business process does not send mail – give up on the business spiel already!

Secondly… WTF? Postal Methods connects to the business via API to output documents – isn’t this fancy words for "we have a printer"? I mean I know that outsourced mailing companies exist but giving this a Web 2.0 moniker and getting all fancy schmancy talking about APIs – isn’t that gilding the lily just a little?

2 Comments

Yes, we have a printer. After we print customers’ documents, we neatly fold each page to three, insert it carefully into the right envelope, lick the glue and close it, lick the stamp and make sure it sticks to the envelope and quickly run to the post office. (That was a joke by the way – we use fast machines).

PostalMethods is not about Web2.0 in the sense of user-generated-content or collaboration. It is most defiantly a SaaS (or PaaS), as it can drastically reduce the hassle of postal fulfillment for small or large businesses. PostalMethods is all about API. We’re not gilding the lily. Just showing it.

Please try our free program for developers and give it a try. I would love to hear your comments.

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Ben Kepes is a technology evangelist, an investor, a commentator and a business adviser. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.